As a Beginner, This Is the Perfect Entrepreneurship Guide You Need
Why are some Entrepreneurs who are just setting up a business more successful than those who have been in the business for quite a couple of years? How do some Entrepreneurs who are starting a business for the first time make more money, and accomplish much more within a few years of establishing than the great majority of entrepreneurs who have spent years running the same business and haven’t accomplished much? What beginners guide do you need to entrepreneurship?
These are some of the questions I asked my boss when I was still an apprentice at the fashion house. The reason for all the questions was as a result of me knowing I will one day be a boss of myself. And how to fit as one triggered a lot of questions.
In this Beginners Guide to entrepreneurship, I will be sharing some of the things you should know in becoming a successful boss (Entrepreneur) of your own. And trust me it will work out for you the same way it does for my boss and which I am seeing the impact in my business as well.
I know you are very hesitant to know what those things are, but I would like to ask you what that Boss (Entrepreneur) you want to be, really is? Who is an Entrepreneur? And what is that thing you are “bossing” on (Entrepreneurship) Okay, let me save you the stress.
Who Is An Entrepreneur?
An Entrepreneur is a person who buys mean of production at certain prices to combine them into a new product. But that particular kind of person sets up a business primarily to make money, through his/her intellectual property and must take a great deal of financial risk or business risk.
An Entrepreneur is also a person who starts a business and is willing to risk a loss to make money.’ But fortunately, ‘he earns profit as a reward for taking such a risk’.
Entrepreneurship, however, encompasses the art and science of innovation and risk-taking intending to make a profit in business.
Having known what an Entrepreneur and Entrepreneurship means, then let see what I have for you in the Beginners Guide to Entrepreneurship as counselled by my boss.
A Beginners Guide to Entrepreneurship; What I Learned From My Boss
1. Follow your Passion
When I stepped into my boss’s fashion house to learn the profession, the first question he asked me was”why do you want to learn fashion designing?” My answer was”I just like the creativity aspect of the work.” Furthermore, as days passed, he made me know that the reason for the question was to know if I had a passion for the work or was a result of me seeing others in the profession.
Furthermore, he made me realize that if I am due to stand on my own as an Entrepreneur, the main factor that will determine my success in the field is my “passion” for it. The one which has enabled him to move to that other side is called success. So, now you see why you should follow your passion in being that successful Entrepreneur you aspire to be.
When you have passion for that business, you will genuinely love what you do and be willing to invest more extra hours to make that Business blossom.
Hence, passion must be factored into the equation to enable you to succeed as a beginner in your Business. Because it is what keeps you going and moving even when the road seems rough. Following your passion is one of the qualities every entrepreneur should have.
2. Research What You Are Going Into
This is another important beginner’s guide to which most entrepreneurs don’t consider before going into Business.
It is advisable to carry out some research in other to widen your knowledge of the business you are going into. A study of the market is essential to determine if the market conditions are favourable and to check the viability of your business model.
3. Come Up with An Attractive Name for Your Business
As a Beginner in Entrepreneurship, one very important thing which is capable of attracting your target customer is the name you tag your Business; your business name.
Selecting the right and appropriate name for your start-up business does have a great deal of significant contribution to the flourishes of your business.
When selecting a name for a startup, try and ‘conduct a thorough trademark search’ this will prevent you from choosing an already licensed name for another organization or person, which can have you penalized.
However, in choosing a company name, avoid too long and hard to pronounce the name. You should try as much as possible to have a very simple to pronounce a name, so as not to give those that come across the name problem in pronouncing it.
Giving a business a very simple and beautiful name will always leave a lasting memory of your company in people’s heads, which will enable them to keep patronizing you.
Another thing that is very important to consider is when coming up with your business name is; Avoid picking a name that would not capture your business as it grows.
Taking myself into consideration, I sew for men when I started the business and knew as time passed, I would consider females wear also. So it will be okay going by “Brai’s apparel” which has encapsulated both men and women instead of saying “Brai men or women apparel” which won’t suit the business as it progresses. You should consider these seven tips for Naming your Business.
4. Know Where to Get The Funds
Getting finance is another most important thing an entrepreneur should know, taking into considerations in this Beginners guide to entrepreneurship.
Like you know, you can’t mount a house without money, so also with business. You need to have your finances ready.
However, you can get that through your savings, loan, family and friends, investors.
You might even succeed in finding an investor for your startup or small business once you successfully pitch your idea.
5. Have A Unique Approach to The Business
In this Beginners guide to entrepreneurship, I would want you to know that there is always a gap that hasn’t been filled in every business. So it is your responsibility to have if filled by adopting the three traits of an entrepreneur by “Harvey Leibenstein” which are;
Recognizing market trends
New Goods or Process in Demand
Determining profitable activities.
Because you as an entrepreneur should be capable of fixing market failures, deficiencies, and the same process or method that has been used over and over again. Therefore, you should avoid ‘revising business model of existing enterprise’, rather bring your business from a unique angle of”gap-filling”.
6. Master the Concept of Time Management
Time! You need to be very conscious and know how to manage it if you want your business to progress. Time, however, ‘is irretrievable; once it is gone or wasted, you can never get it.
Therefore, it is time management that enables you to plan and control the time you spend executing sequential events on your to-do-do lists. This, however, is simple and easy to do, by adopting Vilfredo Pareto’s 80/20 rule of time management (Pareto’s principle).
This involves accomplishing 80% of a specific activity using 20% of the time you’ve got. This means you should focus on the most prioritized task which can bring more money to your business.
Some things you do are more valuable than other things, even though they share the same minutes and hours. So you can also follow the method I like to consider in managing my time by Brian Tracy’s ‘power of self-discipline’ (194-195) which is the ABCDE method and trust me it will also work for you.
A are must-do tasks with serious consequences for non-completion
B are tasks with little or no consequences for doing or not doing;
C Tasks Have No Consequences
D is for Delegate. Everything you possibly can to free up more time for those that only you can do;
E stands for Eliminate. Discontinue all tasks and activities that are no longer essential to your work and to achieving your goals.
7. Set a Template for Your Business
Having considered all those, you need to set yourself a Template.
This is a self dream or determination of what you want your business to achieve or where you want it to be in the next one year for start, then probably five years after, and subsequent years of your choice. However, this will be a guide and motivation for you as that you have a target to meet.
Therefore it is now advisable you should “be like an eagle that never gets its eyes away from a prey from afar until it gets on it”.
8. Master The Art of Self Discipline
The achievement of business success demands high levels of discipline from you in every area of business activity, both large or small.’ Without self-discipline, no success is possible. As Dwayne Johnson would say “All success begins with self-discipline. It starts with you.”
As an Entrepreneur who is self Disciplined, you will have that total control and power to stick to your decisions, no matter the situation and condition you might face in the business. This is just one of the reasons why you should learn self-discipline.
However, it is through self Discipline you would be able to know the difference between “a wish” and “a goal”. As a “Wish” is only but an ordinary wish, but a “Goal” Is a wish backed with actions. And how can you back your wish with actions to be a goal? Simple!! through self Discipline.
You can be selfly Disciplined by taking into consideration the CANEL FORMULA, which stands for “Continuous and never never-ending.”
Among other things an Entrepreneur should consider in this guide include;
You must have the quality of Obsession.
You must be Devoted to your Business.
An entrepreneur must be Inspirational, which leads to Creativity.
You must be smart enough to handle the Business.
You must be Dynamic.
Conclusion
I would like to sound it as an advice to you; Once you have finally started up the business, and you’ve become that boss you aimed, you must discipline yourself to give it at least 80% of your time and attention while the other 20% should be channelled into researching how to go beyond where you currently are. Remember the market is dynamic.
And finally, in this Beginners Guide to Entrepreneurship, Remember “A journey of a thousand miles starts with a foot footsteps. So, which step have you taken so far among those above? Don’t forget to share it with us in the comment section below. You could also check out these 7 Books That Every Entrepreneur Should Read in 2021
See you on the other side called success.
